Habibie says he won't contest next election

Habibie says he won't contest next election

JAKARTA (Reuters): President B.J. Habibie said here yesterday
he was pushing Indonesia's electoral reform programs as fast as
possible despite calls by critics for even speedier elections.

He also told Reuters Television in an interview he had no
plans to continue as head of state after the next presidential
poll.

Asked if he planned to be president in January 2000 after the
next election, he responded: "Oh no, no, no, I'm not planning for
that."

He added: "I did not even plan that I would be the president
right now," he said, in reference to his assumption of office
three weeks ago.

Habibie took over on May 21 from Soeharto, who resigned amid
economic collapse and mounting demands for political and economic
reforms.

Asked about criticism that the electoral reform process he had
proposed was too slow, Habibie replied: "I could not go
faster... it's not that I don't want to be fair, but they have
to be fair to me."

He said a new electoral law would be drafted over the next two
months and then the public would have one month in which to
scrutinize it and suggest amendments.

Draft laws would be submitted to parliament for ratification
by the end of the year. General elections would be organized
across the archipelago of 202 million people and held in May.

A meeting of the nation's top constitutional body would come
at the end of 1999 to elect a new president and vice president.

"I'm not a genie who says 'Zingaboom' and everything is
there," said Habibie. "I have to take care that everybody is
happy, and that everybody says the election is correct, based on
the law, it's legal."

Asked about the status of the Armed Forces, the most cohesive
organization in Indonesia and a power behind the presidency,
Habibie said it would retain its dual function role of defending
the nation and involvement in politics and social development.

He said the military should adapt to changing times, but that
it should also be kept outside the election process and be
allotted 50 seats in parliament to give it a voice in the House
of Representatives. The Armed Forces currently has 75 seats
allotted but there have been suggestions this should be ended.

Habibie added that members of the military should no longer
involve themselves in the business world, necessary at one time
to finance operations for lack of adequate budget allocations.

The President said other reforms had been pushed through over
the past 20 days.

Political prisoners were being released, and he said he had
set up criteria for amnesties. Those who did not qualify for
amnesty included members of "illegal" organizations working
against the Constitution, people seeking to undermine the
Constitution and common criminals.

On the thorny issue of East Timor, which has bedeviled the
country's international relations since it was incorporated as
part of the republic in 1976, Habibie said he was ready to
consider granting "special status" to the territory.

But he insisted the territory would remain an integral part of
the country.